Persevere
by usagikuma
Summary: Handsome Jack was a handful. Rhys had no idea what he was getting himself into. Could he deal with him long enough for Professor Nakayama to finish his new robot body?
1. Chapter 1

Handsome Jack…

The name seemed to run through Rhys' mind more often than not now that the sarcastic AI was implanted into his brain.

He thought it would be cool to have the person he was practically obsessed with live in his head with him. When Professor Nakayama suggested he be the one to carry the AI he practically jumped at the opportunity. But now… now he was regretting it with every fiber of his being.

 _"Hey, Cupcake… Do you know how fucking hot you look right now?"_

Rhys jolted from his slumber, sitting up straight with beads of sweat gathered at his brow. He felt his clothes were damp as he ripped the covers off of his body. He looked around breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. He was at home, in his plain Hyperion room with little to no furniture besides his bed, his side table, and the already built in TV. His eyes finally fell on the semi in his briefs and sighed.

"Fuck…" He cursed under his breath, rubbing at his cock through his briefs to settle it. He let out a sigh as he allowed his head to fall back on the pillows.

It was only a dream.

Rhys had been having a string of strange dreams that only seemed to get weirder and weirder. They were mostly about his past. About the old flings that the lanky man use to have along with all the whoring around he did in high school. They never really feel like dreams, more like he was reliving the actual memory. But this dream one was the worst one yet.

He was in Handsome Jack's office, but it wasn't what it was now. It was older, more modern and less Hyperion Overlord. There were people there, he had never met them before, but they sure as hell knew who he was.

In this dream he was in the Hyperion President's office, shoving people that looked like scientists into a 'secret escape pod' but he knew full well that it wasn't an escape pod. It wasn't long before he was pressing a button and blasting the poor scientists into the vast darkness of space. The feeling in his chest was nothing close to guilt. He felt good, almost to the point of pleasure, and that terrified him.

"How did it feel, kiddo?"

Rhys jumped, almost smacking his head into his headboard. He put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart race. "D-Damn it, Jack! Can you stop doing that? If I die from a heart attack you know you'll be gone too, right?"

Jack's hologram figure stood at the foot of Rhys' bed, his arms crossed. "Watch the language." Jack growled. The hologram ran his hands through his pixilated hair, calming himself. "Sorry, kiddo. It's not like I can just knock."

Rhys gave a small grunt and sat up again, looking over to his side table for the time.

3:17am.

Jack looked at Rhys expectantly. It took a second for him to realize Jack had asked him a question earlier. "How did what feel, Jack?" His tone was somewhat annoyed but Jack brushed it off like nothing.

"How did it feel to kill some seriously shitty people? I remember that day just like it was yesterday. To be honest, watching YOU launch those guys into space gave me such a hard-on. Well… I mean it would have if I had a functioning dick. I'm just a hologram." Jack barked out a sarcastic laugh at his last comment but Rhys didn't seem to find it very funny.

"Wait... That was your memory?" Rhys questioned in shock. Jack walked, or more like floated over to Rhys, his head high and chest out.

"Yeup. That was the day I realized how great it felt to kill people who pissed me off. Let me tell ya, after I pushed that button I felt like a whole new man." Jack looked off into the distance like it was a memory worth remembering. _A new man, Huh? Well, duh. You turned from a regular guy into a murderer_. "Hmmm… I wouldn't say 'murderer' more like I rid the world of the bad guys." Jack winked. Rhys' thoughts didn't go unheard by the deceased Hyperion President, and for that he cursed himself for. He always forgets that Jack can hear his thoughts just like they were his own.

"So you're calling yourself a hero?" Rhys asked, slight distaste in his words. Jack laughed, "Isn't that what you thought I was? Ya know before you learned all the behind the scenes stuff? I did get rid of some seriously bad people, but I wooould be lying if I said I didn't kill some, ya know, innocents too."

Rhys could only shake his head. It's not like he could scold the Handsome Jack. No matter what he said those people were still dead and so was Jack. "That's some reasonable thinking cupcake." Those were Jack's last words before he disappeared once again. Rhys stood from his bed, stretching his arms above his head. There's no use in going back to sleep now, he had to be ready for work in a few hours. Instead he went to the bathroom, locking the door behind him before starting the shower. He was thankful that Jack was gracious enough to let him have this time to himself. Rhys knew Jack saw everything anyways, but he could at least pretend he had a little bit of privacy while he showered.


	2. Chapter 2

Work was boring, as usual. The only fun part was lunch with Yvette and Vaughn, but today it was no fun at all. Rhys had decided to take his lunch way later than usual to finish up a report before its deadline, so he was forced to eat lunch alone, well, not totally alone…

" _God_. The people around here sure got ugly. I mean they were always gross, but jeez something must've happened as soon as I left." Rhys gave a dry laugh to the holograms commentary, his mouth full of the sandwich he had just bought. "Well I guess not everyone is butt ugly. You're quite a looker yourself Rhysie. How could I have not noticed such a good looking guy like you just walking around Hyperion?"

Rhys nearly choked on his sandwich, but thankfully he was able to prevent the assault in his throat. "What are you saying?" Rhys coughed, taking a few big gulps of his water.

"I'm saying you're pretty well, pretty."

Rhys couldn't stop the heat that spread through his cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about." Rhys dismissed quietly when a few of his coworkers passed by his table.

"Awww, being bashful now, are we? I've seen some interesting stuff crammed in your head kid. You _know_ you're good looking. You use to use your looks to get you in and out of situations like a professional." Jack couldn't help but smirk at the look on the younger's face.

"Why are you bringing all this up all of a sudden?" Rhys asked in a low whisper, a clear blush on his cheeks. Why did Jack always have to say the embarrassing stuff at work? Why couldn't he do it from the confines of their home?

"Well I just realized how fucking hot you are. Watching you kill those guys this morning made you 10x hotter than you already were."

"I should probably get back…" Rhys whispered as he stood and gathered his trash, throwing it away in the nearby trash can. Rhys hated how Jack could manipulate his emotions so easily. One second he had him laughing the next second he made him want to jump into a volcano.

"Hey." Jack tried, but Rhys ignored him as he practically jogged down the halls towards his department. "Please don't be like that, Pumpkin. It's not like you can exactly run away from the situation." Jack continued as he followed close behind Rhys. "Did I get your panties in a twist or something? Oh yeah… you don't wear those anymore." Rhys stopped in his tracks, red clearly traveling down his neck. Jack's lips pushed up into a devious smile.

"I'll give you props for that though, kiddo. I would NEVER be able to deal with wearing such girly shit. But on you? Man…" Jack took the time to float around Rhys, eye him up and down like he was his prey. "… I don't think I've seen anything hotter. If I still had a body, I would jack off every day to just the thought."

Rhys tried his hardest not to let the Hyperion President's words get to him, but all of his attempts failed as soon as he heard the change of the man's voice. It went from normal to almost animalistic in a matter of seconds. He could feel his cock jump at the way the AI spoke and he couldn't move from where he was frozen.

"If I was still running this place I would have promoted you to my personal assistant just so I could stare… no better yet, I would have promoted you just so I could _fuck_ that ass of yours. Seriously kid, I've seen you naked." Rhys felt Jacks pixilated stare on his back side and immediately turned to face the AI. "C-Can you stop? J-Just… Go back in my head!" Rhys stuttered under his breath, reaching his hands behind him to cover his ass.

"Gosh, you're so touchy. You should be taking this as a compliment, Sweetheart. Not many people get me as turned on as you do. By the way, you have company." Jack gave a final wink and with that he was back in Rhys' head. Rhys sighed and turned back around, only to face a very confused Yvette.

"Was there a reason you were cupping your ass? Or maybe I missed the memo that said we could feel ourselves up openly in the work place." Yvette saw the blush that was on Rhys' face growing darker as the man's brain struggled to come up with an excuse as to why he was groping himself.

"I-I uh I was j-just…" Rhys scrambled to think and he struggled even harder when the AI's amused laughter could be heard in the back of his head.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack knew that Rhys couldn't just tell Yvette he was talking to THE Handsome Jack. Professor Nakayama had to make Rhys swear not to tell a soul until he had successfully made an acceptable robot body for the AI to live in. _"That's right, Cupcake. Better keep that pretty mouth shut."_

" _Shut up."_ He whispered, only earning a confused, borderline concerned look from Yvette. Rhys could feel his palms start to clam up and sweat start to gather at his brow.

 _"Say you thought you forgot your ID card."_ The President helped, sighing at his host's inability to think for himself.

"I uh… I thought I forgot my ID." A very nervous Rhys reached behind him and pulled the piece of plastic from his back pocket frantically. "B-But I didn't, see?" He couldn't help the nervous laughter that fell passed his lips as he waved the card in front of Yvette's face.

She seemed less than satisfied with the taller man's explanation, her thin eyebrow rising slightly. "Yeah right, we both know that's not what was really going down. Now how about trying again? Is someone harassing you?" Yvette asked, looking around for anyone within close proximity.

 _Yes, actually._ Rhys could only agree in his head as he recalled the crude things the older man inside his head had said to him just minutes before their encounter. _"Better not give me up, Cupcake. Unless you want your little friend to think you're crazy."_

"There you guys are!"

Both heads turned to the voice as it echoed down the hallway. Vaughn jogged up to his two best friends, arms slinging around both of their necks. "Did I miss something?" Vaughn asked when he noticed Yvette was staring Rhys down like a hawk.

"Oh! I totally forgot I have a… meeting! Yeah, a meeting. Super important! I'll catch you guys later!" Rhys lied frantically as he lifted Vaughn's arm off of his shoulders. He waved to his friends before he turned and quickly walked away from their judgmental stares.

When Rhys entered the elevator faaaar away from his friends he let out the breath he had been holding. He leaned against the nearest wall, "Why do you always do this to me?" Rhys asked in a low voice, rubbing his eyes tiredly in his hands and slowly sliding them down his face.

"Because it's fun, Kiddo. Most fun I've had in years actually." Jack's holographic form appeared in front of Rhys, but Rhys didn't flinch. He only gave the hologram a death glare. "I was going to wait, but that look you're giving me makes me want to show you a little earlier than planned." Jack growled, leaning forward to give Rhys a dark grin. Rhys had a terrible feeling in his gut, but he knew that no matter what he said to try and stop him, Jack would do whatever it was no matter what. "Good thinking." Jack chuckled.

Jack cleared his throat and pretended to crack his neck and knuckles. Rhys tried to mentally prepare himself, just in case it was something about as bad as he was anticipating. Jack hovered closer to Rhys, causing Rhys to back up against the wall completely, the railing along the wall pushing uncomfortably into his lower back. Jack slowly lifted his left hand up, smirking when Rhys' eyes filled with terror. Rhys' robotic arm was following suit, mirroring Jack's movement.

"That's right, Rhys. I figured out this little gem a few nights ago when you were sleeping." Jack said, smirking maliciously. Jack lowered his hand towards his crotch, making Rhys' arm go towards his own. "No no, Jack stop it! Not here, are you crazy?! I-I'm going to get caught! What if someone else tries to g-get on the elevator?!" Rhys was getting frantic, desperately trying to gain control of his arm. Jack ran his hand up his thigh, slow and steady as he watched Rhys repeat the actions to himself.

Rhys had to fight the moan that was threatening behind his lips. " _Tsk tsk_ Rhys… I'm going to have a _lot_ of fun with this later." Jack's voice was rough as he whispered to Rhys. Rhys shivered at the thought. He tried to ignore the way his own hand caressed his thigh, but the sound of Jack's hums of approval made every inch burn with need. Jack lifted his hand away from his thigh and laughed. Rhys opened his eyes… wait, when did he closed them? He looked around, but Jack was nowhere to be found.

 _"You should stop by the bathroom, Rhysie. I don't think your co-workers would very much appreciate that huge boner you're sporting."_

Rhys looked down, and sure enough. He gave a drawn sigh, reaching up to pull his hair. He was on the verge of crying out of frustration, but he wouldn't let Jack get the best of him. The elevator dinged to signal that it had arrived at his floor. He stood straight, fixing his clothes and continuing his walk back to his cubical. On the way he thought of the time he walked in on his grandmother naked and within a few minutes his problem was solved. What it didn't solve was his pent up anger. Rhys was starting to get sick of Jack's tormenting, but he never did anything about it, because there was nothing he could do about it...

He was trapped.


	4. Chapter 4

When he got back to his office, he was glad to see that there weren't many people around. He stole a quick glance at his watch, 2:41pm. Most people had gone home for the day. He made his way through the maze of cubicles until he reached his. Once in the confines of his own space he let out a long sigh, dropping down into his padded chair, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.

"What's the matter, Kiddo?"

Rhys' eye twitched at the sound of Jack's voice. He wanted more than nothing to just wrap his hands around Jacks neck, but even if he had a physical body, Jack would probably have him on his ass in 2 seconds flat. He hands gripped the arm rests of the chair, slowly opening his eyes to look over to where the voice came from. Jack was sitting on his desk, on top of all the files, blueprints, and papers he had to get done by the end of the day. Rhys had to fight his urge to yell, his anger slowly building into rage.

" _You_ are the _fucking_ matter." Rhys seethed quietly. Jack raised his eyebrows, surprised at how feisty Rhys had become in a matter of minutes. He actually found it kind of hot that Rhys even had the balls to even talk to him the way he was. Hell just the way he was looking at him might have been enough to get him off. His mix matched eyes narrowed; his eyebrows knitted together and his fists clenched.

"Watch your _god damn_ mouth." Jack growled low, trying to intimidate Rhys will his words. Rhys didn't seem fazed, "No, okay. You always fucking do this shit to me. When I'm at home, you barely even show yourself, but when I'm at work you always pop out saying and doing shit that's so fucking embarrassing I could literally kill myself, and I can't do _shit_ about it because if I do, people will think I'm a fucking nut job, and you know what you're doing, you sadistic asshole, because the look on your smug pixilated face says it all." Rhys took a deep breath in after wasting all of his air in one long sentence.

Jack was taken aback. No one has ever stood up to him like Rhys had just done, and it pissed him _off_. Jack hovered off of the desk, walking towards Rhys like he was stalking him. Rhys was kind of scared, but he kept from backing away, even though Jack could just take control of his arm and choke him out. But if he was gone, Jack was gone, and he knew that Jack wouldn't waste his 'life' on Rhys.

Jack leaned in close, the static from his hologram lips ghosting the shell of Rhys' ear. "Just you wait, _Pumpkin_. I'm going to get you back for this." Jack whispered before disappearing back into Rhys' head.

Rhys could hear his heart pounding in his ears after Jack disappeared. He straightened in his chair, taking a second to calm himself before returning to his work. Vasquez would have his ass if he didn't have the blueprints for the new military grade Loader Bots done before 5pm. On top of that, he had to finish imputing the data from the test results he had received from the lab. He'd be lucky to get out of there by 8 o'clock.

The whole time Rhys worked Jack was completely silent. In a way, Rhys was nervous. He knew he crossed the line, but he needed to get it off his chest. Jack already knew how he felt, but he never acknowledged Rhys' feelings. Jack had finally heard him this time, but that didn't mean he wasn't secretly planning his punishment while he sat there in his head.

 _Oh, Rhys was going to get it._


	5. Chapter 5

It was nearly 6:30pm once Rhys had left the office. He ran a few minutes late turning in the blue prints need for the new military weapons that are meant to be issued sometime within the next month, so Vasquez took it upon himself to punish him for it. He reprimanded Rhys for about 20 minutes before eventually growing tired of his face and allowing him to leave. Rhys was surprised that Jack hadn't joked around at all about Vasquez's hair like he usually did whenever he saw the infamous 'Wallet Head'. Rhys must have genuinely pissed off the AI.

As Rhys walked back to his apartment the eerie quiet he was left in made him feel uncomfortable. It was a lot like wearing earphones with no music playing. The strange pressure in his head insured him that Jack hadn't just suddenly disappeared, but the silence wasn't something he was use to for very long. Not even the bustle of the other Hyperion residents among him was enough to make him feel at ease.

Once Rhys reached the building that contained his solely owned apartment, he felt his exhaustion slowly start to take over his body. As he entered the building he almost groaned at the sign on the elevator that read 'OUT OF ORDER'. The thought of climbing so many stairs almost made him contemplate just sleeping in the lobby, but the promise of a warm bed and sitcoms had gave him something to be excited about as he began his ascent.

Rhys was almost to the point of crawling once he finally reached the 7th floor of the building. _Keep it together Rhys. Just a little bit further…_ He thought to himself for motivation as he exited the stairwell into an empty hallway. The walk to his door felt a mile long and he couldn't get it unlocked fast enough once he finally reached it. After closing the door behind him and locking it once again, Rhys let out a long drawn out sigh as he loosened the tie around his neck, lifting the silky fabric up over his head.

It was days like this he relished in the fact that he had the entire place to himself…. Well, and Jack, but he didn't actually touch anything so he didn't count. Once he reached his room, Rhys dropped the tie on the ground. He then kicked his shoes off as he nearly ripped his dress shirt off of his body, unbuckling his belt and letting his pants pool around his ankles before stepping out of them. Now in nothing but his boxers and a plain white t-shirt he climbed into his bed, almost moaning at the feel of his cool sheets on his body.

He was so grateful that with his promotion he was able to make enough money to move out of the apartment he shared with Vaughn. He had Professor Nakayama to thank for that one.

Rhys turned over in his sheets so he was facing the ceiling. He hasn't seen the professor since Monday. Seeing how it was Thursday, it had felt like forever since he last checked on the old man. Just thinking about the professor made Rhys recall how he even got mixed up in this situation.

He had the pleasure of meeting the quirky scientist while he was picking up the coding sheets his previous boss had instructed him to collect. The two indulged in conversation when Rhys commented on the weapon Nakayama had been working on while he was leaving the lab. He had offered Rhys an invitation back to the lab when his shift was over so they could talk more and Rhys gladly took it. He had hoped that one day he could become a weapons developer like the brilliant Handsome Jack but he was busy inputting codes instead. When he revealed his dream to the professor, the scientist began teaching Rhys everything he needed to know about weaponry.

Rhys had returned to the lab everyday for almost two months after that. He had finally been able to dive deep into the stuff that he had always wanted to do. Nakayama noticed Rhys' infatuation with Handsome Jack once their conversations would land on Jack's incredible ability to think of new ways to kill and the prototypes Jack had created that were found after his death.

One day Nakayama had asked Rhys to stay in the lab with him until all of the other scientists had cleared out. Once they were alone, Nakayama relayed his plan to bring the Hyperion Overlord back from the dead with haste. Rhys couldn't believe the words he was hearing, bring _the_ Handsome Jack back? He must have been out of his mind.

When the professor finally got to the part about Rhys being the one to store the AI, Rhys had written the man off as completely insane. He attempted to stand and leave, unable to listen to the crazy scheme anymore, but Nakayama stopped him. He then further explained that he could modify Rhys' ECHO eye implant and give it the ability to download the AI directly into his brain, and that Rhys was the only person he trusted with the task.

Nakayama was desperate, seeing as how the longer the AI lived on his ID drive the chance of it being discovered grew larger. "It'll be a temporary thing. You keep it with you until I create a suitable body for it." Trusting the Professor's use of "temporary", Rhys agreed to the procedure. If he would have known what it would be like beforehand he would have declined immediately.

Rhys had to remain conscious the whole time Nakayama tampered with his ECHO implant; his brain waves needed to be active to power the eye's software. The feeling of someone digging into the side of your head with various tools was not pleasant, but that wasn't the worst of it.


	6. Chapter 6

After going through hours of painful prodding, it was finally time to download the AI. Neither of them knew what was going to happen, the whole plan had been experimental, but the professor had neglected to tell Rhys that before inserting the drive straight into the port on the side of his head.

Electric waves shot through Rhys' head, electrocuting him until he blacked out on the table. As he slipped into darkness he could hear a very faint voice in the back of his head. " _I'm very disappointed in you. You thought you could follow in my footsteps? You are nothing more than a pitiful little code monkey. All swagger, no substance._ "

When he had finally awoken he was still on the table. Nakayama had been monitoring him closely the entire time, relieved when the lanky man finally opened his eyes after about an hour of being unconscious. When Rhys sat up and looked around the room he nearly had a heart attack at the sight of Jack leaning against the wall. He pointed at the figure, his words failing him terribly as he stuttered "H-H-H—"

"Handsome Jack in the flesh, baby. Well, not the flesh. More like in holographic form— you know what, you get the picture." The holograms voice sounded just like the voice that spoke to him before he passed out. Nakayama questioned what Jack had looked like and Rhys explained to him in great detail, from his attire down to the streak in his hair. The professor took various notes as Rhys talked; making sure that everything was just as he had designed.

Jack posed the entire time with a straight back and fists rested on his hips, soaking in the attention he loved oh so much. After Rhys finished, Jack disappeared back inside his head. Rhys was scared at first; did he really go through all that pain for the AI to crash?

" _Don't worry cupcake. I'm still here, but now I'm inside your little pea brain_." Rhys didn't let the words Jack spoke get to him as he watched Nakayama run around the lab gathering the supplies he needed. The professor was so ecstatic about how the plan turned out that he started preparing the AI's soon to be body that very second. The next day, Nakayama put in a good word with the higher ups to get Rhys transferred to the same department as him so he could keep in close contact with him and check up on the AI. With that came an extremely high raise and access to the job he had always wanted.

Once Jack started appearing and talking to Rhys within his head more often, he realized that it would be best if he got his own place so he wouldn't have to explain to Vaughn why he was now constantly talking to himself. Eventually Vaughn came to respect Rhys' decision, not allowing the separation between the two dampen their friendship. Now it was a common for Vaughn and Yvette to come over on their days off to watch movies and talk about the stuff they can't talk about at work.

He's lived with Jack in his head for about 3 months now.

" _Aw, how sweet. Thinking about me before you take a nappy?_ "

Rhys snapped out of his thought induced daze, closing his eyes before turning over to face the wall and snuggle deeper into his sheets. " _Tsk tsk_. Rhysie, are you really going to ignore me? Don't you know better than that?" When Rhys opened his eyes again, Jack was there, laying a few inches from him with his arm bent under his head to prop it up. If Rhys wasn't as exhausted as he was, he probably would have jumped. But instead he looked to the hologram with a bored expression.

"Is someone a little grumpy this evening? Did you forget about what I said earlier?" Jack questioned, raising the arm that wasn't keeping his head up and wiggling his fingers at him. Rhys felt his robotic fingers wiggle under the sheets and his eyes grew with terror once he remembered what the AI was talking about. How could he have forgotten? He was going to go straight to Nakayama and report to him about Jack's new found ability, but after finally being released by Vasquez all of those plans flew out the window once Rhys realized he could finally go home. Rhys brought his flesh hand up to face palm himself for forgetting something so important.

"It seems like you haven't forgotten at all. Did you like how I made you feel in the elevator, _pumpkin_?" Jack asked, slow and sultry as he lowered the hand that he used to wiggle his fingers at Rhys down to the hem of his shirt. Rhys felt his robotic arm travel under the sheet and stop at the same location on his body where Jack's hand was on his holographic body.

"Move the sheet out of the way, Rhys." Jack commanded his voice low and hungry. When Rhys didn't move to remove the sheets from his body Jack snarled, bringing Rhys' hand up to wrap around his throat. Rhys let out a choked off gasp as he felt the cool metal of his hand start to slowly crush his windpipe. Jack moved his face closer to Rhys' ear as he squeezed harder on his throat. He kicked his legs as he frantically tried to use his flesh hand to pry off his robotic one, but no avail.

"I don't think you get it, sweetheart." Jack whispered in his ear, the static from Jacks body tickling lightly the port on the side of his head. "You are going to do what I say or I'll kill us both off… got it?" Rhys nodded furiously, his vision slowly darkening with lack of oxygen. Jack loosened his grip on Rhys' throat, allowing him to gasp desperately for air.

After Rhys was back to breathing somewhat normally, Jack started up within his head, "Now, move the _god damn_ sheet." Rhys did as he was told this time, kicking the sheet off of his body. Now he lay frozen on his back as he waited for Jack to make his next move.


End file.
